How 10th-placed Albon ended up with fastest qualifying time

The British-born Thai was the first driver to risk the soft tyres at the start of Q2 when the track started to dry, and the gamble paid off as he shot to the top of the order. 

Albon posted a 1m18.725s in his heavily-upgraded Williams FW45 to advance through to Q3 for the second time this season. 

He ended up 10th in Q3 after making a small error on his only lap before Oscar Piastri's crash red-flagged the session and the rain got heavier, preventing any late improvements. 

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen would go on to take pole position with a 1m25.858s on intermediate tyres. 

“We had an amazing Q1, even better Q2 and then in Q3, I made a little mistake on the only lap we had, tyres a little bit cold,” Albon said after qualifying. 

“Tyres getting better and then Oscar crashed, red flag, and then the track got way too wet. 

“So I suppose a little bit disappointed from that side, but we definitely had some positives in there. 

“Q2 was great - technically the quickest lap on Saturday. We have the quickest car... Maybe not! But it was still a great day. 

“Hard work from everyone at the factory to get the upgrades ready for the weekend. Hopefully that’s the first P1 of more to come in the future.”

It marked the first time a Williams has led a qualifying segment since Felipe Massa at the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix.

Albon has moved up to ninth on the grid for Sunday's race after Carlos Sainz was hit with a three-place grid drop.